In the Shadows
by anime-dark-fairy
Summary: Strange things are happening. Praxis suddenly wants Jak caught alive. The MetalHeads are acting oddly. And Jak is finding himself in a hell of a lot of trouble. Rated M for later chapters. Yaoi. TornxJak
1. Chapter 1

**OK, this is my first Jak story. I do love the games and this idea just came into my head one night. The story will contain yaoi -boyxboy- but not until later on. I plan on this being a long story, but of course that depends on whether anyone actually reads it. **

**Ideas for the story are still in the works but I will warn people at the top of the chapter if something new is coming in.**

**This is set at some point close to the start of Jak II: Renegade. **

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><p><em>Jak's POV:<em>

I was exhausted. I was sure that Daxter was to. We had just spent the last few hours taking on MetalHead after MetalHead; feeling like we were getting no closer to thinning their seemingly endless numbers. But finally the clearing was cleared of enemies and Daxter and I could take a breath.

"Well that's... a hundred down, only... _Who knows how many more to go!_" Daxter yelled from his spot on my shoulder. Outbursts like this were usual; a common expression of emotion for the small Ottsel.

For once though; I agreed with him. Torn had sent us on this mission, saying that we had to thin the MetalHead's numbers in this area but I doubted that even he knew just how many were already here.

"Well, we had better get back and report to Torn." I said simply.

Torn. The enigma that plagued me. Ever since I had first seen him I had been able to see past his rough exterior, even if he did annoy me at times.

Pushing my thoughts away from the ex-Krimson Guard I turned and began headed back toward the entrance to the city. It would be a long walk through the forest; we had come a fair way in out efforts to complete our mission.

It was close to sunset when the entrance/exit finally came into view. Daxter was more or less asleep on my shoulder and I knew that as soon as I was back at base I would be doing that exact same thing. I wouldn't admit it, but I was worn out; the constant flow of missions that often ran for days, always fighting -if not for our own lives it was for anothers- and the stress of keeping my newly found Dark side under control. But I was managing.

I sensed more than heard the threat that had been creeping up on us while I was lost in though, spinning around I drew my blaster; ready to fire at the first sign of a threat. Daxter woke with a start at my sudden movement and scrambled to hold on.

Coming up behind us was a large MetalHead, and although I hadn't fought one before I was sure that it was one of the Flying Spiders; Torn had shown me information on most of the known MetalHeads, but if I recalled correctly he had said that they were nest based.

So why was it here in the forest?

I fired off a quick shot but had to jump to the side to avoid being blasted by one of the dual blasters that was currently firing off Dark Eco at me.

"What is _that?_"Daxter shouted as I came to a stop in a low crouch and fired off a few counter shots. The MetalHead seemed to move slowly but the shots had little affect.

"Not sure, but we had better find out how to beat it." I muttered, getting ready to dodge its next attack.

The MetalHead was huge, it had six legs but over all retained the image of a spider; hence the Flying Spider name, although I hadn't seen it fly I was confident that it could.

I was surprised when it fired rapid volleys of Dark Eco blasts; I hadn't expected it to be able to move fast in any aspect. I jumped to the side once more, narrowly missing the first few shots, but I failed to get out of the way of one of the last few and soon found my self thrown back and pain shooting up my side. Daxter had been thrown off my shoulder from the impact and he was lying off somewhere where I hoped that he wouldn't be caught in the cross fire.

I heard a sound that was vaguely like that of thrusters and looked up to see the MetalHead in the air and heading my way, I looked around and saw mt blaster a couple of meters to the right, moving as quickly as I could. As I reached out to grab the gun, one of the monstrous legs of the Flying Spider came down and the gun was once again well out of my reach.

Looking up I saw that the MetalHead had positioned itself above me, creating the feeling of being caged. Its guns pointed down at me, I was expecting it to fire at any second, but instead it done something extremely strange; using its wings the creature took its weight off its legs and then brought its legs inward, digging into the ground as it went.

By the time that I realized what was happening there was nothing I could do; I soon found myself pinned against the MetalHeads large underbelly, its legs folded inwards to keep me in place.

I couldn't move...

I had no weapons...

Damn...

I felt the strange motion of the creature lifting up into the air and a spike of fear ran through me. With that the threat of my Dark side once again reared it head, wanting to be released. This time I was more than willing to let it out, but just before I dropped all the defenses I had in place the sound of a powerful blaster or shooter reached my ears and the MetalHead shuddered above me and fell a few meters lower once again.

I tried to strain my head around to see what was happening but the force that I was being held with prevented that, but soon enough more shots could be heard in rapid succession. The Flying Spider MetalHead shuddered once again and seemed to lose its balance in mid air; it fell the the side and crashed to the ground with a loud _Thump!_ Its legs unfolded slowly as the last remaining life in it drained away and I was able to drag myself free. Wincing at the pain in my side.

A hand braced me as I went to stand up and I looked up to see Torn, as grim faced as ever. In his left hand there was a smoking blaster; one more powerful than my own apparently. It was strange seeing him not using his usual pistols.

"Thanks." I said once I was on my feet. I didn't often like admitting that I needed help with something but even I knew that I had been in major trouble.

Torn just nodded. Silent as usual, unless he was talking about strategy.

"Jak!" I turned to see Daxter rising to his feet, looking quite drunk as he stumbled around. "I'm coming buddy!"

I rolled my eyes and shook my head at the comment, it was yet another usual thing for Daxter; decide to help once the danger is gone and to also have no clue what had actually happened.

"You're a bit late rodent." Torn snorted. Daxter turned to look at us, seemingly getting his balance back, although he still looked quite confused.

"When did the tattooed wonder get here?" Daxter asked.

Once again I shook my head at my friends antics and prepared for the fight that was probably to come between Torn and Daxter. They both had a tendency to get down each others throats.

Deciding to leave them to it I started heading towards the entrance to the city, but only got a few steps when my side flared up in pain again; causing me to stop and grasp the wounded area with a pained hiss.

"Jak?" Daxter's tentative voice reached me and I was aware of Torn moving closer as well. At any other time, Torn being so close would have had a rather interesting effect on me. But this time I barely registered it.

I suddenly got the idea that the wound was worse than I had originally thought.

"Whats wrong buddy?" Daxter asked, now next to my leg. The was visibly worried about me, but then again, he was my best friend and had seen me at my worst, so he would know when things were getting bad.

"It's... Nothing. Torn, how did you know to come here when I was in trouble?" I said through the pain, and attempted to stand up straight. I had had worse than this, I would be fine till we reached the hideout.

"No. It's not." Torn said, speaking up. I felt his hand on my shoulder and looked over at him. His face revealed nothing, but his eyes showed some signs of concern. "I'll explain things later, but right now we need to get you back."

I looked at him a moment longer, then nodded...

Nearly an hour later we made it back to the Hideout. Torn was helping me by supporting me as we walked inside. We headed over to one of the chairs near the table and Torn helped me sit down.

"Let me have a look." Torn said moving around to my injured side. I gingerly lifted my arm, the fabric of my shirt was blackened from the impact and even torn in places.

"We'll need to take the shirt off." Torn said.

I felt some heat rise to my face at the calm comment from Torn but carefully hid it by slowly taking the top off, and trying not to aggravate my wound.

"How did you know that I was in trouble?" I asked as Torn moved to get one of the medical kits that were always kept handy.

"To be honest I wasn't sure exactly what kind of trouble you would be in. But I got some new information from Ashelin this morning." Torn said as he carefully cleaned the wound. The wound had barely broken the skin, but the bruising would be bad for a few days. I wasn't overly worried though; I tended to heal fast.

"Ashelin told me that the Barron had his eyes set on you again." Torn continued. "But it wasn't to kill you this time, apparently she heard him say that he wanted you alive."

I nodded, but I was confused.

"Ok... but how does that connect with the MetalHeads' attack?" I asked.

"That's where it gets complicated." Torn replied, "As soon as I got the information, I had a bad feeling and decided to go find you. I guesses that you were still in the forest and headed there. And what do you know? I walk through the gate to see you getting flown away by a MetalHead." He said the last bit with a wry smile.

"Has that ever happened before?" I asked.

"What?" Torn said, obviously not thinking on the same track as me.

"MetalHeads taking people? I mean, I've only ever seen them kill." I explained.

"Well to be honest, I have never seen them do that either. We think that the MetalHeads share a hive mind, and therefore only act on what the leader wants. Basic thinks like fighting and killing those that get in the way are their own instincts as far as I can tell."

"What the hell does that mean then? Why did that thing try and carry me off? Why was one of those kinds even away from the nest?" I asked, spilling a few of the many questions running through my head.

"I have no idea Jak."

I sighed, yet more questions with no answers.

"What about Praxis, what does he want?" I asked, referring back to the fact that Praxis wanted me alive now.

"I'm working on that." Torn replied, then seeing the look on my face continued, "That much I can say we have a chance of finding out."

I nodded. We fell into silence as Torn finished dressing the wound. I found myself studying Torn once again; his face was hardened from his time in the Krimson Guard, his teal eyes revealing little or no emotion. It was east to tell that Torn was lean but muscular, something that I found attractive.

I sighed quietly, knowing that these feelings of mine were strange and that they would never be returned.

"What is it?" Torn asked, surprising me.

"Oh... uh, nothing." I faltered, he gave me a strange look but then seemed to either believe me or to simply not care. Probably the latter.

"You will be out of action for a few days." Torn said after he had finally finished dressing the wound. He had had to run a bandage around my waist to hold the main dressings on and to keep a pressure applied.

"I can't just sit around and do nothing though." I protested, my stubborn side kicking in. I wanted nothing more than to keep getting in Praxis' way.

"And if you go out like this, while the Barron -and the MetalHeads apparently- are gunning for you, you won't stand a chance." Torn replied sternly.

Damn I hated it when he was right about these things.

"But what the hell can I do till then?" I asked, slightly annoyed.

"Rest." He snapped, getting up from he had been sitting, "You need it; you look like shit."

I opened my mouth to say something back but promptly decided not to; I wasn't in the mood right now, and if I was going to be stuck here, that meant that Dax was too; so there was going to be enough fighting for the next few days.

"Whatever." I muttered as I stood up myself and headed to one of the vacant rooms in the hideout, Daxter close behind me...

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_Torn's POV:_

I watched Jak's retreating back as he made his way to one of the rooms the hideout had and shook my head. He was too damn stubborn for his own good. I allowed a small smile to show when I was sure that Jak was out of sight. In truth I found his stubbornness quite cute, especially with the faces he often pulled.

I then shook my head and pushed those thoughts away. What would the Underground members think if they knew I was capable of thinking like that.

When I first realized that I held some form of feelings for the young man I had been surprised; just like the rest of the underground I had thought it impossible to feel like this. The only exception being Ashelin, but even that hadn't been this strong.

Shacking my head once more I decided that I needed to get to work if I was going to dig up more info on the Barron's plans, especially those where Jak was concerned...

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><p><strong>I know its only a short chapter, but is mostly just a tester to see how it went. If anyone likes it I will continue. Feel free to review and tell me what you think; good or bad. Although as a general rule I do hope it is all good. :)<strong>


	2. Repercussions

**OK sorry for the long update but I ended up re-writing the whole chapter because I wasn't happy with the first draft. So enjoy.**

**I would like to thank the following people for reviewing; Jenn, Zexion579, Ciycat, SurrieTheYaoiQueen, and the anonymous reviewer who gave the first review. I am glad that people have already taken a liking to the story and I will try to update often. **

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><p><em>Jak's POV:<br>_"Come on Torn! I'm fine now, just give me a mission." I snapped. Four days spent in the cramped Underground hideout was starting to drive me crazy.

"You know you could try _not _looking for trouble for once." Torn snapped. "We still have no idea what the good Barron wants with you, and the Shadow would prefer if we didn't find out the hard way."

I rolled my eyes as he spoke. I didn't care about that, I could look after myself and I had been sitting around for far to long. It was time wasted that I could be using to find a way to kill Praxis.

"I am not just going to sit around here anymore." I growled.

"There are no missions that I need you for right now anyway." Torn sighed.

"Oh come on Torn! Get rid of a few MetalHeads? Recon? Information gathering? Anything?" I pushed.

"No."

"Nothing?"

"No."

"Bu-"

"Jak." Torn growled warningly. With a sign I turned from the ex-KG, and looked around the stuffy room. It was ok for maybe the first day or two; I got through it by annoying Torn and watching all the different Underground members waltz through with all their information or what ever the hell the other members done.

Daxter had ended up disappearing and going to the Hip Hog Saloon to hang out with Tess, leaving me even more board.

I looked at the entrance then at Torn, who was still bent over his maps and reports trying to work something out. I had to admit that he looked damn good like that. No! I mentally chided myself. I'm suppose to be angry with him.

I shook my head and took one more look at the entrance before deciding that I was leaving regardless. I looked once more at Torn before making my way to the entrance.

I nearly made it before Torn's voice sliced through the air.

"And where do you think your going?" He asked in a mock casual voice; annoyance filtering through.

I paused for a moment but decided not to even bother answering. I kept walking.

I heard a frustrated sigh from behind me and then footsteps. With a smirk I ran for it; childish? Yes. But fun as well so why not and it certainly beat being stuck in the Underground any longer. Even if Torn was going to chew me out later for it.

I burst out of the Hideout and raced down the street, glad for the chance to work my stiff muscles. I was sure that Torn never bothered to even chance past the entrance but I kept running till I was positive.

Once I stopped running I took a deep breath. It wasn't the clear, refreshing air of Sandover that lingered in my memory, but it was air nonetheless.

I looked around and decided to go and pick Daxter up from the Saloon; after all what fun could I have if Dax wasn't here...

The walk to the Hip Hog Saloon was uneventful and I made it there in record time, something I could probably put down to the fact that u hadn't stolen a vehicle and promptly run over some random KG that got in the way. I walked inside and found that for once there was a few people here. I didn't pay them much thought and instead headed over to the bar when Daxter sat, talking to Tess. I was quite surprised that he wasn't overly drunk.

"Daxter!" I yelled into his ear and chuckled when he jumped. He turned around to face me with a look that screamed bloody murder, but I could also see the slight relief in his eyes as well.

"Jak! One of these days!-" He cut himself of letting the threat hang, we stood there for a while in silence before be both started laughing. I was surprised; it had been to long since I had felt this refreshed and high spirited. Maybe Torn was right, maybe I should rest more... Na.

"So the Tattooed Wonder finally let you off the leash eh?" Daxter asked after he stopped laughing.

"Na, I kinda just walked out." I said sitting down on a bar stool near Daxter's spot in the bar.

"Oh, Oh. Someones gonna be in trouble!" Dax laughed. I smirked at the thought of how pissed Torn would be, but then found myself wondering what he would look like if he actually smiled once in a while.

"You should give him a break once in a while guys." Tess said softly from behind the bar, but it was obvious that despite her words she found it amusing as well.

"Oh come on babe, its fun to tease the Tattooed Wonder, 'bout the only reaction you can get from him is pissed, pissed and furious!" Daxter joked.

We sat there for a while longer drinking the drinks that Tess got us and talking... Well listening to Daxter talk anyway...

"You guys should probably leave now." Tess whispered to me, averting my attention from Daxter telling a few girls how he apparently defeated a group of vicious MetalHeads all by himself.

"Huh?" I gave her a confused look. She tilted her head slightly towards the door, turning I saw a group of Krimson Guards walking in and none other that Errol leading the pack. They were all in full uniform and they began to search the now large crowd. A hollow feeling settled in my gut and something told me that I already knew what they were after.

I quickly tapped Daxter on the shoulder while still watching the advancing KG. How had they found me?

Daxter said something akin to 'don't interrupt me' but now I decided that it was time to split. I grabbed the little Ottsel and put him on my shoulder. I quickly turned to Tess.

"Is there another way out?"

"There is a back door. Come on." She replied and headed down the bad in a casual walk. I done a similar thing, but made sure to keep myself more or less hidden from the searching eyes of the KG, it was almost a miracle that I hadn't been spotted yet.

"Whats goin' on buddy?" Daxter asked from my shoulder, thankfully keeping his voice low. We rounder the corner of the bad and met Tess at the door to the back room.

"Krimson Guard." I replied.

We quickly followed Tess through the back room to the exit at the back of the saloon.

"Go. Quickly." Tess said as she opened the door, needing no extra incentive I quickly went out with a quick 'thank you' to Tess.

Outside, I made my way towards the opening of the dark ally. Just as I came around the corner, movement caught my eye. I ducked just in time for the large fist to fly over my head. Quickly rolling away back into the ally I looked up to see Errol standing there.

"I figured that you would use the back if the front was occupied." He said happily, as if he was out for a stroll.

I cursed under my breath. Of all the people in this damn city it had to be Errol. I hated this man nearly as much as Praxis; the Dark Warrior program might not have been his plan but he was the one who took me in and got enjoyment out of watching me suffer, and helping to increase that suffering.

I could feel Dark stirring within me and crackles of dark eco shot out from my body. I gritted my teeth; this was not the time to lose control; I had to stay in control and find a way out of this.

A loud laugh came from Errol then and in the half light I could see him smirking at me in a way that sent cold shivers down my spine. For a moment I had to fight the rush of images that that look brought forth, but soon quelled them and focused on the now advancing Errol.

"You know what? You should just give up. The Barron wants you alive, and that's generous for a monster freak like you."

Once again I could feel Dark thrashing against the mental bonds I had on him.

"Drop dead." I snarled and adopted a fighting stance.

Errol barked a laugh and mirrored my stance. There was a tense moment when neither of us moved, and I was reminder of the whole 'calm before the storm' saying. But that moment passed quickly, and all to soon Errol was launching himself at me. I avoided his first hit and sent one of my own his way, which he promptly blocked. He punched at my face again, missing me by inches but then followed through with a low swipe of the leg. I wasn't expecting it and soon found myself looking up at the over hangs of the roofs above and a sharp pain blooming out from the back of my head.

"Jak!" Daxter yelled.

I rolled out of the way on instinct and barely dodged a harsh kick. I quickly got to my feet and charged Errol, ducking under yet another punch and ramming my shoulder into his stomach.

I both heard and felt the wind rush out of his lungs and a small pang of accomplishment rang through my mind. I kept pushing till the resounding _thunk_ of Errol's back connecting with the wall sounded, then I stood back and took a punch; getting him squarely in the jaw and earning a breathless grunt of pain. I lined up for another hit when the sound of voices reached my ears and I identified the sound of KG's communicating with one another.

I paused and looked at Errol who was hunched up with his hands over his stomach. With a curse I withdrew and quickly made my way into the crowded street just as the Krimson Guards rushed into the ally.

"You ok Buddy?" Daxter asked from his place on my shoulder.

"Yeah Dax, I'm fine." I replied. I made my way back towards the Hideout, regardless of how angry Torn would be.

"What the hell happened out there?" Torn yelled. I looked anywhere but at him.

"Well, not much... Really... You know, just a couple of Krimson-"

"You fought with the KG again?" Torn Interrupted. "Dammit Jak, we can't afford for you to get caught."

"Hey! I had it under control, and they found me I didn't go looking for them!" I argued. Torn looked like he was going to say something more, but he turned and took a deep breath instead.

"You need to keep out of trouble for a while." He said, seemingly calmer now. When he looked at me again I was surprised at the emotion running through his usually cold eyes. I wasn't sure but I would have thought there was protectiveness and maybe even worry in those brilliant eyes. I caught myself wondering what it would be like to fall into those eyes. I realized that Torn was waiting for an answer then and once again looked everywhere but him.

"Yeah. Yeah, I get it." I said.

"You better 'get it'." Torn warned.

"Look, it wasn't his fault Tattooed Wonder, so go find someone else to blow a gasket at!" Daxter yelled jumping down from my shoulder to the floor. I rolled my eyes and smirked slightly. Torn simply raised his eye brows and looked like he wanted to test out freshly baked Ottsel.

Silence fell around the room for a while, everyone just stood there looking at anything but each other. Eventually Dax abruptly headed for the door way.

"Well, I'm going to catch me some shut eye!" He yelled over his shoulder. Soon enough it was just me and Torn and silence reigned supreme once again.

"Listen Torn-" I started.

"Don't worry about it Jak." Torn said simply and headed back to his perpetual job of pouring over reports, charts and maps.

I stood there for a while and simply watched him, admiring him and how much he put into the Underground. Although I would never tell him that.

"Go rest up Jak, I'll have a mission for you in the morning." Torn said after a while.

"A mission? But I thought that it was to dangerous." I said raising an eye brow.

"It's out of town and you will have back up. Now go, or I'll give the mission to some one else."

I smirked and made my way to the room I had been using a lot the last few days. Somehow I knew that Torn was giving into my constant nagging for a mission and that was a small victory in its self. I had a feeling I would fall asleep thinking of a certain red head tonight...

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><p><strong>Well, that's it for this chapter. I hope you liked it. And once again thank you to those who have reviewed and encouraged the story already. :) <strong>


	3. In the Forest

**Well first up I would like to thank: Zexion579 and Ciycat for reviewing the last chapter. **

**Anyway, on with chapter 3!**

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><p>"Jak!" The familiar voice of Daxter invaded my consciousness. I slowly opened my eyes to see my orange friend sitting on my chest and taping my face with one of his small paws.<p>

"I'm awake Dax..." I mumbled and swatted his paw away from my face.

"Yeah, yeah. Come on buddy; the Tattooed Wonder had a mission for us." Daxter said, still sitting on my chest.

It took a moment for Daxter's words to register but when they did I let a confused look cross my face. With a quick glance at the clock in our room I confirmed my suspicions that it was little after three in the morning. Sure I knew that Torn had said that he would have a mission for us in the morning, but not this early!

Suddenly I looked up at Daxter with a perplexed look on my face.

"Why are you up so early?" I asked suspiciously as I moved to sit up, giving the small Ottsel time to move off my chest.

Daxter scrunched up his face and looked out towards the slightly open door.

"Tattooed Wonder decided that he would spray me with water to wake me up..." He grumbled, it was only then that I noticed that parts of Daxter's fur was damp. Then another realization hit me; Torn had been in our room while I was sleeping. I tensed at the thought; I had been a bit odd with the prospect of others being in the room while I was asleep; well ever since Daxter broke me from the labs. Sure Dax was fine but even Torn was put me slightly on the defensive. A stranger on the other hand would have probably been hurt upon me waking up. Daxter must have noticed the change in me because he quickly spoke up.

"Hey, its fine buddy. I stopped him before he could wake you up; you were tossing a bit last night."

Jak looked at his friend gratefully. Last night had been a bit rough with images of my time in Praxis' labs and the sight of the tattoos that were compulsory for the KG probably would have been a bad thing. I finally made myself relax.

"I'm surprised he listened to you." I stated as I swung my legs over the side of the bed.

"Me too." Dax replied as he moved to sit on the edge of the bed as well.

"Well..." I said as I stood up and moved to get dressed. "We had better go and find out what he wants this time."

"Ok you two. The mission is simple; clear out some MetalHeads from Haven forest." Torn said. Despite the fact that he couldn't have had much sleep he looked as awake and alert as usual. I noticed that he also had all his weapons on; some of which seemed like permanent parts of his clothing, but the rest usually sat near to hand but not on him.

"This time I will be accompanying you." Torn continued surprising both Daxter and I.

"Wait, what?" Daxter asked in disbelief. "You're actually leaving your little nest of maps to come hunting MetalHeads?"

I rolled my eyes as Daxter shrunk lower behind my shoulder to hide from Torn's steely gaze.

"Shut it Dax." I muttered softly, although I was just as confused as to why Torn would come as well.

Torn took a deep breath before continuing; "The reports all say that there could be a few eco wells there that I am interested in, also I would like to see what the MetalHeads do around Jak this time after the oddity of the last attack."

Jak frowned, he could see the reasoning behind Torn's words but he couldn't help feeling that Torn was using him to get more information.

"Yeah, but what about one of the other fighters?" Daxter asked sulkily, it was obvious that the idea of Torn joining us for a mission wasn't very high on his things-to-do list. I shook my head and looked at my childhood friend.

"Dax..." I warned seeing the foul look on Torn face get even worse.

"No one qualified." Torn replied shortly. Daxter opened his mouth to speak again but I promptly clasped my hand over his mouth.

"Whatever Torn. Lets just get this done." I said irritably. I wasn't quite sure why I was mad; a small part of me was ecstatic at the thought of having Torn close for a mission, but I still felt as though I was the guinea pig in this one and just being used to get more info.

Torn raised an eyebrow at me in wonder but didn't say anything. Why. Why did I have to be so defensive now? I asked myself as we made our way out of the underground hideout.

Haven Forest was, as usual, a quiet and seemingly peaceful place. Jak could only imagine how nice and beautiful the place would be if the MetalHeads were never here. But of course that wasn't going to happen anytime soon, and behind the mask of serenity there was the blood thirsty monsters that would love nothing more than to kill every living thing that humanity held dear.

The ride over had been uneventful. We had come in a two seater zoomer and avoided all the KG that we came near. I had spent the whole ride debating Torn's real reasoning for coming with us, but I had eventually decided to trust him and ignored any doubt of him not telling us the full story.

I finally brought my mind back to the present and looked around the quiet forest. It was early; before dawn and the air was chilled and still, the light was a pale gray, making the shadows seem deep enough to dive into.

"Keep on your guard." Torn warned.

"You know that we have been doing this for a while don't you?." Daxter commented dryly. I rolled my eyes; something that I seemed to be doing a lot lately. Torn gave the small Ottsel a scathing look before focusing his eyes back on the gloomy forest before him.

"Why are we here so early Torn?" I asked quietly, my own eyes scanning the area in a now well practiced way.

"I'm hoping to catch the MetalHeads by surprise." Torn answered softly.

I nodded, seeing the sense in the words as we moved ever deeper into the forest...

_Torn's POV:  
><em>I was getting worried. So far we hadn't seen a single MetalHead and that spelled bad news in my mind; I had had several people out here in the last few days and all had reported a growing number of MetalHeads in the area and a few natural eco wells that had seemingly made their way to the surface from an underground source.

I looked over at the green-blond haired man beside me. In a normal situation I would have sent him alone with the rat to complete this task, but with the recent activities I wasn't ready to dismiss the idea that he was important to the MetalHeads for some reason. I would have preferred that he stayed at the Underground hideout instead but I felt that he was the only one with the strength and skill to work on this mission; and the only one that I fully trusted to watch my back while surrounded by the enemy.

We were now deep in Haven Forest and dawn was closing in, the rodent had finally shut up and was sleeping on Jak's shoulder.

After a while longer of walking and scanning the now lightening forest I stopped. Jak took a few more steps forward before stopping as well and looking back at me with a questioning expression.

"We should head back." I said, "We have come this far with no result, it seems as though the MetalHeads are either hiding very well or have left." That and I didn't want Jak in an environment where the MetalHeads could recognize him easily.

Jak's face remained blank as he looked at me, and I got the feeling that he was trying to hash out my reasoning; but I knew that if I told him the full truth that he would most likely run off like he did the other day. Jak looked like he was about to say something but then the rodent decided to open his big mouth first;

"What? You mean you dragged us all the way out here just to turn around before we even found something?" He was jumping up and down on Jak's shoulder; something that the green/blond man didn't seem to notice much.

Suddenly there was a loud screech and movement caught my eye; a fairly large but quickly moving shape flew down from the canopy. I looked to Jak who was turning to look at the source of the sound as well. I moved quickly, and without thinking; throwing myself at Jak. I impacted with a solid _thump _against his surprisingly hard and well toned body. We both went flying to the ground, landing hard, but Jak ended up taking the brunt of the landing and I heard the whoosh of the air leaving his lungs.

Another screech sounded only seconds later, then a searing pain suddenly burst from my shoulder and across the top of my back, I gritted my teeth against the urge to cry out. Then another sound reached my ears; the sound of Daxter yelling, fear laced through his voice as he called to the man underneath me;

"Jaaaaaaaaaaaaaak!"

I looked up in time to see the creature that had attacked, flying off into the canopy of the forest once more. A small, squirming, orange bundle held harshly in its claws.

"Dax!" Jak called and quickly rolled me off him and getting up in a hurry, despite being winded.

"Jak, wait!" I called, but was promptly ignored as Jak ran full speed after his friend, dark eco sparks radiating from his body.

In the space of a few minutes all hell had broken loose; at first it confused me as to why the strange MetalHead would take the rodent but then I realized exactly what had happened. We were all now separated, I was injured, and I would bet my position as second in command of the Underground that Jak was walking, or running, into a trap.

I sat up gingerly, hissing in pain as my shoulder protested. Using the arm that had escaped injury I brought my hand up and tested the wound; hot, slick blood was the first thing that my fingers encountered, I pushed past that and attempted to examine how bad the wound was. From what I could guess, the wound wasn't to deep but it was long. That meant that I was going to have trouble dressing it.

"Great..." I muttered darkly, "I knew this was a bad idea..."

I spent the next five minutes grudgingly trying to dress my shoulder and upper back -something that was increasingly difficult- and couldn't stop thinking that I had to get moving before I was to late.

"You had better get out of this Jak. I can't afford to loose you." I said to myself, then I realized just how much I meant what I had said; it wasn't just that I couldn't afford it, but I didn't want to lose him...

_Jak's POV:_

When I caught the MetalHead who took Daxter I was going to kill it. Slowly. And _very _painfully. I ran through the forest as fast as my feet would carry me, looking for any sign as to where my quarry was. I was angry, and barely containing the dark eco that was pumping through my blood. Sped up along with my increased heart rate from running. I was angry at everything. First; myself for failing to see the danger coming at me and for not stopping it in time. I was angry that Torn had pushed me out of the way, even if the intentions were good it meant that Daxter had been caught in my place. And lastly and most important; the MetalHead that had taken my best friend.

I pushed myself even faster, leaping fallen trees, roots and foliage that got in the way. Ugly visions of Dax dying were playing in the back of my mind and fear was pushing the adrenaline faster through my veins and feeding the darkness that would consume me if I lost control even for a second.

I just kept running, no clear path or route, just going in the direction that I hoped Daxter had been taken.

After what felt like forever I came to a large clearing and finally had to stop. As fit as I was I couldn't run forever. My mouth was sticky and dry, my chest heaved and I was beginning to feel slightly dizzy for a lack of blood to the brain. I stopped in the middle of the clearing and placed my hands on my knees while I panted.

"Dax..." I mumbled. Looking around I found that I no longer recognized anything; this area was completely foreign to me, but in a way it reminded me of the untamed forests that had surrounded Sandover village.

Taking deep breaths I attempted to work out what way to go next but found each direction as unlikely as the one before it.

"Fuck." I cussed, feeling as though I was letting my friend down by just standing here. When I took another breath I almost recoiled at the smell. It was like something had died and was rotting within acid. I was surprised at how quickly the air had changed. The sunlight that had been shining for a few hours, and that had been warming my back from the gap in the canopy, now seemed cold and distant and I swore there was an almost unnatural green tinge to the prominently brown coloring on the tree trunks and roots. I blinked a few times to try and clear the green tinge from my vision but it only seemed to get worse; it thickened and now it resembled a mist curling its way through the trees and into the clearing.

I stumbled back a few steps, still feeling the affects of running for so long. Something was wrong here. Really wrong. I turned around in a circle and saw that the mist was coming out of the forest all around the clearing. I went to run the way I came but then realized that with all the turning I had done I no longer had any idea which way I had come from.

I cursed once more and tried to look into the forest around me, searching for any signs of a threat. That was when I could feel it, like a tingling over and under my skin. Although it was strange and unusual I instantly knew what it was; eco. Dark Eco.

Deciding that I really didn't want to be here I turned and took the first few steps to make my way out of the clearing. That was something shot out of the forest behind me and wrapped around my throat, yanking my backward until I fell. It was black but reminded me of a vine, then I saw that it also reminded me of the strange stems that some of the MetalHeads seemed to grow their eggs on. But this one had no eggs and instead of thickening and widening at the top it narrowed to a point. I rolled around trying to get it off my neck, in response the strange thing that held me only tightened, cutting off my air. I gasped feeling rather a lot like a fish out of water.

Then it loosened and I greedily gulped in the air that it allowed me, but then to my horror more of them had wound their way around my forearms while I had been distracted and now tightened, holding me still.

The one around my neck retreated and instead wound around my torso, limiting my movement even less. I was lifted up so that I was upright but slightly off the ground.

I didn't know what was happening but cold fear was running though my veins, and all my struggles amounted to nothing.

It was while I was struggling that I caught sight of them; two of the more humanoid MetalHeads were making their way into the clearing and I swore they were smirking. If that was possible for a MetalHead.

They made their way over to where I was caught, I pulled harder against my restraints and they tightened around my forearms even more, stretching my arms out to each side in an uncomfortable way.

I snarled at the approaching MetalHeads, but somehow I knew I couldn't get out of this one by myself and I was painfully reminded of how it felt to be so helpless while in Praxis' labs. Suddenly I head a familiar screech and I looked up to see the MetalHead that had taken Daxter fly in, still holding an objecting Ottsel in its claws.

Daxter looked up and saw me for the first time and I saw fear in his eyes.

"Jak." He mouthed softly, it almost seemed like a question, like he was denying that I was really here.

I gulped as I looked at my best friend. "Yeah Dax, it's me." I said, my voice slightly rusty after being chocked before.

If Daxter could have paled I was sure he would have been white as a ghost. The MetalHead dropped him harshly to the ground where he lay looking at me. It was then that I really noticed how close the two main MetalHeads were, easily withing reach. Within killing distance I realized.

It was only then that I noticed the strange object on one of the MetalHeads' hands. It glowed, but not a single identifiable colour. It seemed to shift and change but hold no deffinate shade or brightness.

I gulped suddenly feeling as though whatever it was, was not something that I wanted near me. I began thrashing again, earning a guttural snarl in response. Then one of the MetalHeads' hands shot forward and grabbed my face, turning it to the side and exposing my throat. I felt its claws dig into the skin on my cheek and forehead. I couldn't see. And that scared me.

Suddenly something sharp and long stuck into my neck harshly and I couldn't hold back a grunt from the unexpected pain. That was when the burning started. It began in my Neck and quickly spread; enveloping my chest and stomach then into my limbs. The pain was excruciating, rivaling that of any number of dark eco injections Barron Praxis gave me.

I was faintly aware of Daxter yelling my name but it was getting harder and harder to notice anything through the haze of pain. A darkness began to seep into the edges of my vision as the pain intensified and this time I couldn't hold back the scream of pure agony as darkness finally took hold of me...

_Daxter's POV:_

I was freaking out! I mean, I was _really _freaking out. Sure I had seen Jak in pain before, hell when we were kids he was always getting hurt -even if it was usually my fault for messing up- or like, on his ninth birthday he had run into a whumpee nest and that had spelled disaster. I had seen the Barron Praxis pump dark eco into him and had heard him scream. But this. This was worse.

I felt helpless and useless as I watch my friend writhe against whatever the hell was holding him, in pure pain, then the scream that tore from his throat and echoed throughout the forest tore my heart in two. I tried calling out to him but it seemed that nothing could reach him. I felt tears running down my cheeks but could do nothing but sit there.

Finally a silence that was worse than the screams of my childhood friend filled the clearing and Jak went limp. Dread filled me and I wondered if he was dead, but when I looked closed I could see the rapid rising and falling of his chest and knew that he was still alive. Maybe not alright. But alive.

The strange things that had been holding him suddenly let go and I watched Jak fall to the ground with a soft _thump. _One of the big brutes that had put that strange thing into him then picked him up and tossed him over its shoulder and began to walk away. They were going to leave me here! I ran after them but soon found my way blocked by the very MetalHead that had brought me here.

I needed to stay with Jak. I had felt awe-full for leaving him with the KG the first time and I was not about to leave him this time. Not to the beastly MetalHeads...

_Torn's POV:_

I had been wandering around for what felt like hours. My shoulder was killing me and I was starting to think of the different ways I was going to kill Jak for running off on his own.

But that was when I heard it. An agonizing scream that pierced thorough the heart and shocked the brain. But worst of all; I recognized the voice that it belonged to, even if it was a sound that I had never heard before. It was Jak. And that was a sound that I never, _never_ wanted to hear. Especially from him. I took off sprinting in the direction of the scream, it couldn't have been far off. I ignored the surroundings as I ran, completely on auto-pilot. Soon a reached an area that stank of MetalHead. I slowed down and now took in the surroundings. I was on the edge of a large clearing and to my surprise I saw Daxter on the other side of the clearing face to face with a MetalHead, and not looking like he was about to run off screaming to hide. Then I saw what was behind the MetalHead; Two more MetalHeads were making their way into the forest. And Jak hung limply over the shoulder of one of them. For the second time that day I acted out of character and jumped into action, using both pistols I quickly took out the MetalHead in Daxters' way before aiming for the one holding Jak. I pulled the trigger and both shots found their way into my targets chest. The MetalHead crumpled instantly and with a few more shots the other followed. Daxter looked around to me with wide eyes and I was surprised by the expression on the normally over-excited Ottsel's face; it looked haggard and his eyes betrayed a sad and helplessness that I never thought I would see there.

Then just as quickly as we looked at each other we turned to Jak. The Ottsel made it first and was brushing the hair out of Jak's face.

As soon as I got there I saw that the young man was way to pale and a sheen of sweat covered his face. There was clear bruising around his neck as well as a fairly large puncture wound. Jak was breathing shallowly and despite being unconscious it was easy to tell that he was in pain.

I had never seen Jak seem so weak and vulnerable. I had heard of his time with the Barron but I had never imagined anything like this.

"What do we do?" Daxter asked quietly, his voice scared and confused.

I thought a moment before getting my communicator out.

"We get him the hell out of here." I replied as I sent a call to Ashelin...

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><p><strong>Well, chap 3 done. Also quite a bit longer than the rest. :) Feel free to tell me what you think. :)<strong>


	4. Paralysed

**I would like to apologize for the long wait, I have been absolutely swamped with homework (which I should probably be doing now but oh well) and haven't had much free time. I am continuing this story and don't plan on stopping so if I update late I apologize but I will update eventually. Enjoy!**

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><p>The first thing I was aware of was pain. It burned through my body as though my very soul was on fire. It didn't matter what I done, the pain just wouldn't lessen... I wanted it to stop. I wanted to just sleep painlessly. I just wanted everything to end...<p>

I slowly opened my eyes, the brightness of the room around me almost painful. My whole body felt as though I had been dipped in acid then frozen in ice. Memory seemed to fail me as I tried to remember the last thing that had happened... Surely we had been going on a mission to Haven Forest with Torn... I frowned slightly, and even that small movement caused spikes of pain to radiate through my head. Where was Daxter? Usually he would be there the moment I woke up, wanting something or other. A strange image came to mind then; a flying MetalHead carrying Daxter through trees. But when? I closed my eyes once more and willed my mind to work as it should and eventually that one picture of Daxter turned into a series of images, emotions and feelings as memory came flooding back to me. But... the last thing that I remembered was MetalHeads and excruciating pain...

I tried to look around me, but the light made it hard and even the slightest movements made the pain spike and blotches would threaten to override my vision.

Where was I? What was going on? Was Daxter ok?

I knew I had to calm down. I began to focus on my breathing and pushing the pain back. Then I tried to take note of my surroundings, the ones that I could see and feel as well. I noticed that the mattress underneath me was soft, something that I was sure I wouldn't get from the MetalHeads. I was also covered with a soft blanket, yet another good thing in my opinion. The more I thought about it the more I realized that my situation would be completely different if I was with the MetalHeads.

Despite how comforting that knowledge was, it didn't change the fact that every muscle I moved caused me more pain. What the hell had they done to me?

"Jak?" The voice startled me and the result was pain shooting through my body again. I gritted my teeth and held my breath as I waited for it to subside. Once it lessened enough to focus on the presence next to me. Daxter stood on the edge of the bed beside my head.

"Jak? Buddy?" He spoke tentatively and uncertainly.

"Y..." I tried to speak, but found that my throat and tongue were thick and swollen.

"Jak!" Daxter seemed to no that I was trying to respond and I suddenly found a small paw pushing my hair from my face. I would have smiled at him if I knew it wouldn't hurt. He was the same old Daxter; I knew I could count on him being there.

"Just hold on buddy, ill go get Torn." Daxter said, then like much like his nickname "Orange Lightening" suggested he was gone.

A few minutes later I could hear the familiar, albeit hurried, footsteps of Torn as he came into the room. Suddenly Daxter was back beside me and Torn stood over me, thankfully blocking out most of the light that had been annoying me...

_Torn's POV:_

I looked up when I heard my door open and saw the rodent rushing in. This surprised me and I quickly put down the report I had been reading.

"He woke up!" I had never heard better words from the rodent before.

Moving quickly I headed out of the room and down the corridor to the room that had been set aside for Jak when we got back. Once inside I saw that Jak was indeed awake and relief flooded though me, I had been silently worrying about Jak since I found him in Haven Forest. I moved over to stand beside him and saw his eyes flicker my way. There was pain there and he was still extremely pale but at least he was no longer burning up.

"Jak." I said, he just looked at me and I knew he was listening. "We think you were poisoned, either that or they were just using it to keep you off your feet for a long period of time. Point is, we have no clue what it is or how long this will last." I said explained. I had a feeling that he would have a lot of questions. I saw understanding of a kind flicker in Jak's eyes, but I also knew that this information would raise as many questions as it would answer.

"H..ow" I was surprised that Jak tried to speak, and I was also concerned at the amount of pain it obviously caused him.

"How?" I asked, not quite sure what he meant. Jak looked at me steadily as he worked to move his mouth again.

"L...ng?" I frowned slightly as I tried to put what he was saying together and was surprised yet again when the rodent spoke.

"You've been out for a few days Buddy. Now take it easy ok." So Jak had asked _How long?. _In some way I was jealous of the bond that Jak and Daxter had.

Jak seemed surprised by the information but seemed to accept it soon after.

"Don't worry Jak, we have some people looking into it. Ashelin is also looking into it. We will find out what it is." I said softly. "You should try to rest till then."

"I'll be right next to you Buddy." Daxter said and I found myself wishing I could say those words as well. I shook my head to try and dispel those thoughts... Why would I feel that way about Jak?

_Jak's POV:_

The next few days passed slowly. The pain didn't subside any further and I was still unable to move without increasing the pain tenfold. As promised Daxter stayed close by the whole time and spoke to me about anything that popped into his head at any given moment.

Torn also stayed close for the most part, but he just sat there silently. Somehow just having him close by was a comfort, but I really hoped that someone would find out something about whatever the MetalHeads had done to me.

That wish came true a day or two later when Ashelin came down to the under ground. She had been happy to see I was awake but that quickly changed to concern when she realized that I hadn't changed since I first woke up.

I was thankful that Torn had insisted on speaking to her in my room because I was rather curious as to what she had found out.

"This isn't good news Torn. It's... confusing." Ashelin said looking uncomfortable. "I was digging through some of the older records of the... lab testings from years ago." She gave me an apologetic look when she mentioned the lab but then continued. "The scientist that worked then had been dabbling in MetalHead materials and the use of applying them."

"What do you mean 'MetalHead materials'?" Torn asked. I was wondering the same thing.

"The use of MetalHead DNA and the different chemicals and reactants that can be found in and around the nest." She explained. I really did not like where this was going.

"Anyway, this scientist managed to catch a decent sized MetalHead and get a large number of samples from the nest when he caught it. Anyway, using the samples he got he managed to create a mixture that would effectively disable its victim, however his serum was faulty and it more often killed its victims, either that or it wore off after a day or two. During a large power outage the cell holding the MetalHead malfunctioned and the MetalHead got free, it killed heaps of the soldiers and actually stole the incomplete serum and disappeared..."

Silence fell over the room as we all thought over this information. It seemed to me that the MetalHeads were a lot smarter than most gave them credit for.

"So... What your saying is that the MetalHeads have used this serum on Jak?" Torn asked slowly.

"Yes and no." Ashelin replied, "What I'm saying is that they have actually perfected the serum and my guess is that the antidote will lie in either the scientists old notes or the MetalHead nest itself."

Silence once again passes through the room. Then Daxter spoke up.

"Well we had better start looking in those notes, because if we have to go into the nest then I want to know sooner rather than later." I wished that I could have seen Daxters face properly then, because I was sure that his usual fearful or happy-go-lucky look had vanished to be replaced to one of those rare, serious looks.

"Dax..." I said, it hurt but I was happy to get that much out. Everyone in the room turned to look at me and Daxter came over and place a paw on my cheek.

"It's our turn to help you Buddy... You just sit back while we do the work for once." Daxter said.

I saw Torn and Ashelin nodding out of the corner of my eye and I felt a strange feeling of belonging for the first time since I had gotten here.

But at the same time I felt worry, how would they get to the nest if that was what was needed?

I really hoped that it wouldn't come to that...

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><p><strong>Hmm, not much really happens in this one but it will hopefully have more in the next chap. I hope you liked it. Please review and tell me what you think.<strong>


	5. Infiltration

**Well, sorry for the delay but I finally have some free time again (well if you call deciding that homework can wait for a few days free time then yeah I got some free time :D) and this one should be nice and long. Enjoy!**

**Also a big thanks to those who reviewed! Always a welcome thing that makes writing worth while :)**

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><p>The sight of maps was starting to drive me crazy, and considering the fact that I had been looking over these same maps for years I was surprised that it was only now that they seemed to be nothing but a pain. But at the same time I understood my own anxiousness, and that could be condensed into a single word.<p>

Jak.

Things had been moving agonizingly slow lately; everyone seemed to be rushing around doing something but nothing seemed to be getting done. Every where I looked I was plagued with a feeling that I had thought had been left behind when I left the Krimson Guard. Helplessness. I had chosen to never be helpless again, yet here I was once more; looking around and feeling that for everything I could do, I couldn't do enough for it to count.

Jak had been sleeping for the majority of the time since he had woken up four days ago. He hid it well but I could tell he was still in incredible pain... Yet another cause of my restlessness. I was sorely tempted to start marching around all the Metal Head hotspots and killing every one of them out of nothing but anger.

But I also knew that I would be doing nothing helpful if I went ahead with that idea. Taking one last look at the maps, reports and notes on the table before me, I turned and headed towards the room that had become Jak's personal hospital over the last few days. The small room that once held two bunk beds and nothing but the bare necessary in other furnishings was now cluttered and crowded with all typed of things that the Shadow was using to try and help the young man that had quickly become important to the Underground. And to me, although I would never admit it.

Both bunks had been taken out and a decent sized single bed had been brought in, it was there that Jak lay; completely unmoving aside from the slightly erratic pace of his breathing. A table was near by, on it an array of pain killers that had been devised in an attempt to ease Jak's pain. Despite everything though, it was nothing more than that; an attempt. Nothing that was done seemed to shift Jak's condition in the slightest.

No one else was currently in the room with Jak. Even the rodent needed rest, and albeit reluctantly, I had convinced him to take a sleep in one of the other rooms. I had watched as the vibrant orange fuzz ball slowly became sleep deprived, never once letting himself fall asleep while he diligently watched over his friend.

I had been surprised once more by the intensity of the bond that the young warrior and the rodent shared; and even slightly envious of it as well. Since they had arrived here they couldn't have been separated and no matter the danger, or even how scared Daxter was of anything that moved, they would both throw themselves in harms way for each other.

With a soft sigh I sat quietly on a small chair next to Jak's bed and watched him. It was strange to see him there so vulnerable and open, yet another aspect of the boy that I didn't know much of but wished that I could. Even with Daxter, if anyone else was around he always had some form of guard up. I hadn't even realized that until I sat and saw him like this.

Time seemed to crawl by at an agonizingly slow pace, yet when I looked at the clock I saw that several hours had passed by and it was nearing dawn. I also realized just how tired I was as well, but I knew that I couldn't sleep, not properly, not now.

I stood up stiffly and stretched, then looked down at Jak once more. I wasn't sure why I did it but I did; gently brushing back some unruly hair from his face, I leant down so that there was little space between us.

"Don't you dare die on me Jak. The resistance needs you... I need you..." I whispered, letting the words linger in the silent air between us for a while.

Coming back to my senses I leaned back, removing my hand from where it had rested atop Jak's head and slowly walked out of the room and back out to my table once more.

My mind was whirling; Why had I done that? What if he had woken up? Why did I even have these feelings? Why was I being so stupid!

I closed my eyes and sighed deeply, running a hand down my face as I tried to calm my mind and focus on anything other than an unknown topic like emotions.

Minutes later I became alerted to the sound of the entrance door opening and closing and the hurried footsteps of who ever had entered.

To my surprise Ashelin came through the door-less entrance to the room.

"Ashelin?" I voiced my surprise.

Ashelin looked tired and withdrawn. She came over and sat at the desk looking utterly defeated. I felt my heart clench slightly as a bad feeling took root in my stomach.

"What happened?" I asked, being careful to hide any emotion I felt.

"He's onto us Torn..." Ashelin said slowly.

"Who's onto us?" I asked, feeling that knot in my stomach tighten further.

"Father." She replied, looking away.

I sighed and placed a hand on her shoulder. It was always hard for her to go up against her own father in this fight, but the resistance needed her, and her intel had saved dozens of lives.

"What happened?" I asked, repeating my earlier question.

"Some how my Father figured out that we were looking into the old files from the experiments. I think...I think he already knew that Jak was down..."

I was surprised; how could Praxis know that Jak got hurt?

"But... that's impossible..." I said, voicing my thoughts, "He would have had to have been there to know..."

"I know, but he found out that I had been looking into the old files, and when he asked why, I tried to say that it was just out of curiosity... He seemed to take that as reason enough, but I don't know... now the files are gone... And that's not the worst part either..."

Deciding I needed to sit down I took the seat next to Ashelin and listened to her with the utmost attention.

"He is making a public announcement later today..." She continued, "In the announcement he is going to offer an antidote to the resistance, or more accurately, Jak. But the catch will be that you will have to take Jak to the palace for it; more or less handing him over..."

Ashelin fell silent at that and we both just sat there, lost in thought.

It was obvious that we couldn't hand Jak over, but he really needed that antidote as well...

"Shit..." I cursed.

_Daxter's POV_

Quietly moving away from the door I made my way back towards Jak's room. What were Torn and Ashelin going to do? They wouldn't hand Jak over; I knew that much. But how were they going to get the antidote?

Once I was in Jak's room I took my usual seat on the bed near Jak's head. I looked at my best friend and not for the first time I felt worry tread through my mind. Jak had always been a pillar of strength to me, always getting through anything. It was disconcerting to see him laying there with a thin sheen of sweat over his face and breathing slightly erratic.

I sat there thinking for a while, willing myself to think of something that would help Jak. For once he needed _my_ help, and I was just sitting here doing nothing! I knew that if the roles were reversed Jak would be out there tearing down the city to help me.

I sat up with resolution. I was going to help Jak, and I had an idea as to how I was going to do that.

"Don't worry Buddy, ill be back before you know it." I said as I jumped from the bed once more and made my way out of the room. Thankfully Torn and Ashelin were to deep in their own thoughts and I slipped quietly past them and out of the hideout.

The streets outside were the same as usual; clueless people going about their clueless lives. It had always amazed me just how easily these people were willing to allow a cruel person like Barron Praxis to lead their city. From my days as being an exterminator though, I knew that many were also just trying to make the best out of what they had.

I moved quickly through the city, making sure to stay out of sight. It would do no good if one of the KG saw me; I would only make it harder to get to where I had to go.

Deciding that I should make a stop before I got to my destination, I made a detour towards the Hip Hog Saloon. As usual at this time of day the bar was empty, something that I also blamed on the fact that Krew was just a mean tub of lard. Looking around as I walked in I came to the conclusion, as I had many times before, that this place could be a rockin' joint with the right management. Namingly; Me.

Jumping up on the bar I looked around for the very fat and very smelly Krew, finding him, as usual, floating around in that hover chair of his over the bar.

"Oi, tones-of-fun!" I called out, causing his beady little eyes to focus on me. He floated over, looking rather annoyed at me. As usual... Oh well he wasn't trying to eat me I guess.

"Ah, the rat. Where's Jak eh?" Krew asked, looking around for my missing friend.

"Jak is uh... busy... But listen up fatso, I need something that will go bang and annoy those KG guys." I said, making sure to gloss over Jak's whereabouts.

"And why would you need that eh?" He asked, eyes calculating as ever as he watched me.

"Like I said, to annoy the KG. Duh." I replied and made my way to the alcohol behind the bar, feinting nonchalance in doing so. Krew was quiet for a while, the only sounds in the room being the buzzing sound of the hover chair and the clink of the bottles that I was going through.

"You know what?" I asked, tossing another bottle out of my way, "This place could be great; music, girls, the whole deal!" I said, hoping to keep the fatso from snooping.

Looking up I saw that he was watching me with a dark expression. Great, doesn't look like I'll be getting help here.

"Well, if your not able to help me you could just say." I said as I hoped back onto the bar, then continued to the ground.

"Not able to eh? I could if I wanted, but why should I mmm?"

Great. Now he was being difficult.

"Well, fine. See ya fatso." I said, waving over my shoulder as I moved towards the door.

"Flea-bags like you should watch their backs." Krew said behind me. I looked over at him, still keeping an easygoing appearance going.

"Na, I got Jak to watch my back." I replied then stepped outside. And straight into someones leg.

"Ouch!" I cried as I fell back, landing on the cement hard. I grumbled to myself as I stood up, rubbing my sore behind.

"Chill-pepper? That you?" The familiar deep rumble of Sig caught my attention.

"Sig!" Looking up I saw said man standing there in all his wastelander glory. And by glory I mean that armor he always wears and the cocky grin to go with it.

"Well I'll be! Where's Cherries?" He asked looking around much like he expected Jak to jump out from one of the shadows in an attempt to scare him.

"Jak's not doin' to good..." I said looking away.

"What happened?" Sig asked, all traces of the joyful warrior gone, replaced by a man who knew how to fight and had spent his life in the wastelands.

"Not here." I said, looking around to make sure that no one had noticed us. I jumped up on Sig's shoulder, much like I would with Jak, "Lets walk big boy."

Sig gave me a funny look before he turned from the door to the Hip Hog Saloon and headed along the walkways around the port.

"Well Chilli-pepper? What happened to our boy?" Sig asked after a while, but he kept his usually boisterous voice down low for my ears only.

"Metal Heads done something to him; put something in him." I said just as quietly. Sig looked at me in surprise.

"Put something in 'im? Like what?" He asked.

"We don't know, but its not good Sig... He can't even move. To top things off Praxis is somehow on to it and knows the antidote and is trying to get to Jak through it." I said in a rush. It probably wouldn't make sense to Sig but it did to me and saying it aloud seemed to make it all the more real. And damn scary too.

"Wait, slow down Chilli-pepper. Whats the Baron planning?"Sig asked. He had stopped walking and we now stood in the shadows under one of the upper paths in the red zone of the city. I took a deep breath before speaking.

"He apparently knows the antidote for whatever the Metal Heads done, and he is suppose to announce that he will give it to Jak if the resistance hands Jak over..." I explained, this time slowly, "Jak needs that antidote, but we can't just hand him over..."

Sig was quite for a moment before speaking again.

"Ok. So what you plannin' to do about it?" He asked.

I looked at him in surprise, but then smiled a bit. That was Sig; straight to the point.

"Well I need to get into that palace." I said. Sig raised his eyebrows at me.

"You actually going in there alone?" He asked disbelievingly.

"Of course I am!" I replied indignantly then added a bit quieter, "Jak would if it was me..."

"Well... How can I help?" Sig asked. I looked back up into his face. There was a friendly openness and understanding there.

"Well... The Orange Lightning might need a good distraction to give him the time to actually find and nab the antidote." I said proudly, playing on my own nickname.

"Man, your that small you could just sneak in and out!" Sig said with a chuckle.

"Hey! Don't dis the Ottsel! And besides, the fact that Praxis want to use this will mean that he will keep it under some heavy guard. He would be stupid not to expect someone to try and nab it, so a little distraction here and a small Ottsel there and perfecto! One antidote commin' right up!"

"Ok, ok, chilli-pepper, I get cha. Lets get this thing done then!" Sig said chuckling. He began walking once more and I noticed that he was now headed towards the palace.

We walked on is silence until the palace came into view and Sig stopped moving once more.

"Right then, its time you headed off on your own way. Don't worry about the distraction, ill have that handled." Sig said, crouching down and letting me jump off. I looked up at him with a large grin; despite how nervous I was I was still glad that I had Sig's help.

I gave him a mock salute before turning and quickly made my way the rest of the distance to the palace without looking back. I trusted Sig to get his job done. Now I just had to get mine done.

I made my way to one of the small pipes that ran the length of the building and quickly headed up. I didn't have far to go because not to far up the wall there was a small ventilation shaft that I knew I could easily fit into.

When I got level to said ventilation shaft I easily took off the grate and slid inwards. The inside was smooth and covered in dust. I hated dust. It stuck to the fur for days.

With a sigh I continued on, making my way quickly through the vents until I came to an opening positioned above a room. Looking down I saw that it was one of the lobby rooms before the 'throne room'. Deciding it was as good a place as any, I began working at the grating with utmost silence.

Soon enough the grate was off and hanging by two corners, allowing me to hang through. The vent was positioned not to far from the wall, on which hung one of those over fancy tapestries.

I swung myself a little to gain momentum then at the right moment threw myself towards the tapestry, landing on it with a muted _thud_ and griping on tightly.

Looking around I was glad to see that no one had entered the room; so with this knowledge I made my way down to the floor.

Once there I moved quickly, staying close to the edge of the wall and listening out for the slightest sounds.

I had been here a few times already and now I used this knowledge to make my way towards the good Barron's chambers.

The travel there went well; I only had to avoid a few KG and security machines, and once there I was able to make my way inside.

I knew that I had to be the quietest now. If I got caught here, then it was all for nothing. The inside of Praxis' personal rooms was what you would expect for an over cocky, pompous man like him. The room was furnished using obviously pricy and high quality furnishings. The walls were painted a rich red, much like everything else in the palace, and the flood was covered with a thick red rug bearing his personal signature.

Making my way through the first room I found myself with a choice of 3 doors. Two were open.

The first one lead to another richly furnished room, but this time housing a bed as well. Not where I wanted to go.

The second one was large and held trophies of all types; Metal Head skulls, competition medals of some weird varieties, and strange artifacts that reminded me a lot of the precursor junk that Jak and I used to find in Sandover. Still not what I wanted.

That left me with one door for this part of the palace. So either it was in here, or I was going to have to do some major scouting.

Looking up at the door handle I decided that, not for the first time, being small had some major disadvantages. I sat there thinking for a while, wondering if I would be able to maybe jump up and open the door that way. Probably not.

I was so caught up in my musings that I barely noticed the sound of footsteps coming my way from the other side of the door.

Moving with speed that was more fear-filled than I would have liked to admit, I quickly dived behind the back of a small table next to the door I wanted. A few heart beats later I both heard and saw the door open and gulped as Barron Praxis walked out. From my hiding place I could see a wicked smile on his face and felt my heart rate increase. A look like that on a guy like him could _not_ be good.

A few seconds later he was followed by Errol and I felt my fear increase. Errol was not a guy I wanted to be around, this was the guy that had first taken Jak; this was the guy that had tormented my best friend for so long. I both hated and feared him.

"This is perfect!" Praxis boomed, making me jump.

"Indeed it is my league." Errol agreed with a smile of his own. "We will have him in our clutches soon enough. He would not survive a minute without the cure."

"Yes. And the sooner we have him the better." Praxis sneered.

My stomach plummeted to my feet as I realized they were talking about Jak.

"Do you think they will hand him over?" Errol asked walking out of my field of vision.

"I doubt it, but by now I am sure that they have heard about the announcement and will be desperately trying to think of a way to get it. They will grow careless. And then we will strike." Praxis replied.

I gulped. They were planning on using the announcement as a distraction; but how would distracting them prove to give them a chance to get Jak?

"It is indeed a fool-proof plan." Errol agreed. "They will have no clue that we are coming."

I decided then that I really needed to get this antidote to Jak. I really didn't like the sounds of this.

It was just as I decided this that a large explosion rocked the building, causing me to jump and yelp a cry of alarm. Camping a hand over my mouth I stayed utterly still for a second as Errol and Praxis looked to each other with frowns.

"What was that explosion?" Praxis asked. I almost gave vent to a sigh of relief; they hadn't heard me.

"I don't know. Perhaps the resistance is behind this?" Errol mused.

"It doesn't matter. Send some troops over there and make sure that they do not get inside the palace. We need this cure for the plan to work." Praxis snapped, heading for the door that lead out into the corridors.

"Yes Barron Praxis!" Errol barked, snapping a salute before following Praxis from the room closing the door with a daunting and final _bang_.

I stayed where I was for a moment making sure that neither of them were coming back any time soon. I crawled out after that and once more focused on getting that antidote for Jak. Looking to the door I realized with a quick jolt of hope that it had been left partially open. Taking no chance in loosing this opportunity I quickly made my way through the gap and inside the room.

The room was filled with a variety of computers, filing cabinets, and strange display cases. I scanned the room quickly before my eyes found what I had been searching for.

A small vial was suspended in one of the small display cases, the colours were similar to that of the strange stuff in the vial that the Metal Heads had injected into Jak first up, only this time the colours were lighter and instead of a horrid sense of wrongness emanating from within, a feeling of light and happiness came over me. This had to be it!

I quickly jumped up onto the small table and looked at the glass. Surely Praxis would have these things alarmed?

I looked around it for a moment longer before deciding that it didn't matter. I had to take it regardless.

So taking a deep breath I lifted the small display case from over the vial, sending it flying to the floor where it smashed, it didn't matter though; the moment I had lifted the case a loud alarm had begun to blear and I knew that I had only seconds.

Grabbing the vial I held it close and darted to the door and back behind the table. My heart was pounding and I had a major urge to just run and not look back, but I also knew that I would run into a whole bunch of Krimson Guards if I did that.

Sure enough, not long after that, a large group of KG came running through the room with Praxis following just behind them looking like he was about to have a fit.

"Out of my way!" He screamed and shoved past those KG who couldn't move in time.

I watched as Praxis burst through the door to the third room and cringed at the enraged snarl that followed soon after.

"Find who ever done this and bring them to me! Now!" He screamed and the KG scrambled to follow his orders. "When I get my hands on the perpetrator they are going to die a slow and _very _painful death."

I gulped at the horrible promise and decided that I was definitely _not_ going to get caught. Soon enough the KG had scrambled out of the room and into the halls, searching through each room they came across.

Praxis soon followed them out, yelling more curses and threats.

I knew that it was now or never so I made my way towards the door and out into the hall way, most of the KG were in other areas now and I moved quickly back to the lobby. Once there I was able to climb up the tapestry and jump back into the ventilation shaft. Clutching the precious vial tightly I made my way back out to the streets.

There were dozens of KG running around and I saw heaps of people being stopped and interrogated, and even a few getting arrested. I felt a small pang of guilt for those few, but it didn't last long. Jak needed this and I would get it to him.

The journey back to the hideout seemed to take forever. I was constantly on the watch for the KG and it was like hell trying to get through the people who were now rushing about trying to avoid trouble.

I spared a small amount of thought to hoping that Sig had gotten out ok, and that he was going to get word to me soon.

At long last I turned down the street of the hideout and a grin split my face as I traveled the last few meters and rushed inside. Torn and Ashelin were still there, but now there was a large influx of resistance members were there as well; passing on reports and messages to Torn who was looking slightly lost through it all.

"Oi! Tattooed Wonder!" I yelled as soon as I got close enough. Either he ignored me or he hadn't heard me. "Hey!" I yelled even louder as I jumped up onto the map desk. Torn sighed and didn't even spare a glance in my direction.

"Not now Rodent; someone just infiltrated the palace and now Praxis is on high alert. Couldn't be worse timing." he said as he took another report from a resistance member.

I almost laughed out loud.

"Well..." I said, "You might want to see this."

With a very annoyed look Torn finally focused on me. At first he didn't seem to notice anything, so I shifted the vial in my grip and I saw his attention shift instantly.

"Is that...?" He began.

"Sure is! Jak's antidote!" I said grinning like a fool.

Torn stared at me for what seemed like forever then he actually _grinned_ at me.

"Well, I'm shocked. So your the one who infiltrated the palace?" He asked. I nodded in reply, then I jumped down from the desk and headed towards Jak's room.

"Well come on! The sooner Jak gets it the better!" I yelled back at him and soon enough I heard the footsteps of both Torn and Ashelin following me. Once we were in Jak's room I made my way over to my best friend and jumped onto the bed beside him before handing Torn the vial.

"Hang in there buddy." I said to Jak, "You'll be up and around in no time."

_Torn's POV_

I was honestly amazed. The rodent of all people had broken into the Barron's palace and stolen the antidote. I would have never believed it if I hadn't seen him standing there with the vial. I knew then just how deep the friendship ran between Jak and Daxter; while Jak would risk everything for any friend and even more for Daxter, the rodent himself, someone who was normally afraid of a shadow, would actually do something that few would even think of attempting for Jak. Even I knew that was a big deal.

I quickly readied the antidote and made my way over to Jak. Daxter was sitting in his usual spot next to Jak's head and Ashelin was standing close by as well.

I couldn't help the hope that rose in my chest and I carefully injected the antidote into Jak's arm.

The effect was almost instantaneous.

Jak's breathing became less labored and the tenseness of his muscles relaxed. I watched as the young warrior changed from painfully tormented to peaceful in a matter of minutes.

"Incredible..." I breathed.

I could see a look of pure happiness and relief on Daxter's face and a similar look on Ashelin's.

"See Buddy, told you I'd be back before you knew it." Daxter said softly to Jak.

I allowed another smile to slip through my guard.

"Looks like we don't have to worry about finding a cure anymore." I said and saw Ashelin nodding.

We all fell silent then as we watched Jak...

_Jak's POV_

The first thing I was aware of was the lack of pain that had plagued me for what had felt like years. I slowly opened my eyes, wincing against the harsh light. I still felt weak and tired but I felt so much better. What had happened? Had they found a way to cure me? Or did I some how over come it?

After giving my eyes a chance to adjust I looked around. Daxter was asleep on my chest, a comforting weight that I was extremely familiar with. I smiled at the small orange fur-ball. Looking around the room I saw Torn asleep sitting in a chair with his head, pillowed by his arms, on the table.

I smiled softly, my grin only increasing as I realized that it didn't hurt to move anymore.

Slowly I raised my hand; the muscles were stiff from misuse but other than that I felt great. I brought my hand up to gently scratch the fur behind Daxter's ears; something that I knew he loved, even if he didn't like to admit it.

I smirked again as Daxter leaned into the scratch and mumbled something unintelligible. I watched as he slowly began to wake up and smiled as his eyes drowsily opened. He smiled back at me and closed his eyes again before stiffening and jerking up, eyes flying open.

"Jak!" He cried and soon I had a face full of fur as my best friend hugged me.

"Yeah Dax, its me." I said, my voice croaky from not being used in so long.

"How you feelin' Buddy?" Daxter asked me as he moved back. I smiled at him again.

"Better." I answered, "What happened?"

"That little rodent of yours snuck into the palace and got the antidote from Praxis." I was surprised when Torn spoke up, answering my question instead of Dax. Looking over I saw that Torn was now standing from where we had been asleep and was grinning at me. He looked tired and worn out, but he also looked happy. Something that was a rare occurrence with him.

"Thanks Dax." I said. Somehow I wasn't overly surprised that Dax had gone to the palace. I knew that he could be brave when he wanted to.

Daxter just sat there and beamed at me, and I chuckled. Somehow I just knew that there was going to be some story telling about this one later.

Then his expression changed to one of concern and I frowned.

"Whats wrong?" I asked. I heard Torn move closer and I guessed that he was curious as well.

"While I was there I heard Praxis and Errol talking. Jak, Buddy you gotta be careful. They are really gunning for you. I mean, they _really_ want you." Daxter said. I frowned again. I knew that this wasn't over.

"Did you over hear anything else?" Torn asked. Dax shook his head.

"Na, just a lot of screaming and one majorly angry Praxis."

I looked at Daxter and smiled.

"It's alright Dax, I don't plan on making it easy for him. Hell if I have any say, I don't intend to go back there at all." I said encouragingly. Daxter smiled back and my own grin widened.

I looked to Torn then. I could tell that the usually stoic man was letting through some real emotion at the moment. I grinned at him as well and felt my heart skip a beat when he smiled back. And I mean a _real_ smile.

I knew one thing though. As soon as I was strong enough I was going to go Metal Head hunting. I had some pain to dish out for them kidnapping Dax, even if it was only for a short while, and I also have some pay back for them for the pain they had put me through.

I wasn't going to hold back this time.

I felt the Dark Eco in my blood quicken slightly at the thought and I knew that I wasn't the only one looking for blood this time.

But I was glad that I had Dax and Torn to count on if I needed...

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><p><strong>Well, another chapter done. And I'm pretty damn sure that it is my longest so far for this story; <strong>**nearly 9 pages straight! A lot more happened in this chapter than the last, so I hope you all enjoyed. Plenty more to come as well. I'll try to update as soon as I can, and with holidays coming ****up I should have some free time.**

**Please review and tell me what you think :) it always makes the writing more worthwhile when I know that people will be reading it! **


	6. Simple Mission

**I'm hoping to start heating things up between Jak and Torn within the next few chapters, but I suppose we will just have to wait and see.**

**Thanks to all those who have reviewed so far, I hope you continue to do so. :)**

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><p>"<em>Jak..."<em>

_I turned at the sound of a familiar voice and saw Torn standing a few feet behind me. There was a strange look in his blue eyes that caused my stomach to knot in a strange way._

"_Yeah?" I asked, glad that my voice held no hint of the odd feeling assaulting me._

_I felt anxious as Torn simply stood there staring at me, yet I couldn't explain why. It was hard to understand why my heart was thumping in my chest so hard, or why I felt as if the next words Torn spoke would be a catalyst for either great happiness or immense sadness._

"_Uh... Torn?" I asked when he still did not speak. Torn took a step forward, then another, and another, until he was directly in front of me; so close I feel his breath fan out across my face. I froze. It seemed like an age that we stood there, so close together, breaths mingling, and the scent of Torn invading my senses._

_That was when he leaned forward..._

_Our lips connected. Softly at first but with growing intensity as his hands wound around my neck to tangle in my hair, my own hands moving to his waist on instinct as the kiss deepened. _

_I felt like I was in heaven._

_Finally we had to pull apart due to a lack of air, but we still stood with our bodies together. Slowly he moved his head to my ear, his warm breath tickling as he spoke._

"_Be Mine..."_

I sat with a gasp, a cold sweat running over my body. A dream? I looked around the dark room of the hideout, seeing the darkened shapes of furniture and feeling the constant weight of Daxter curled up beside me.

"Just a dream Jak, get a hold of yourself..." I muttered in an attempt to slow my racing heart. Daxter shifted slightly at the sound of my voice, but calmed down soon after.

Had I really had a dream like that? With Torn?...

I knew that there was something about him that drew me in, and at certain times I felt odd around him... But still, it didn't explain this dream...

Laying back down I took a deep breath... It was just a dream after all, no need to get worked up over it...

Closing my eyes once more I felt the strings of sleep pull me under despite my still racing heart.

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><p>"Com'on Jak! Get up!"<p>

I woke up to the sound of Daxter yelling in my ear as he jumped up and down on my chest. I felt rested for once, and could recall no nightmares of my time spent in Praxis' labs. For some reason I felt as though I had had a dream of the opposite sort, but I couldn't recall what had happened.

"I'm up Dax, cool the thrusters." I muttered as I sat up.

"Yeah, well Torn wants you in the map room for a new mission or something." Daxter said sounding board now that I was awake.

With a groan I sat up and moved off to get dressed. I was slightly surprised that Torn would have a mission for me after the 'talk' I received for running off alone in the forests nearly two weeks ago now.

Torn was once more standing over the small table in just in the entrance of the hideout, looking over his maps and reports from his spies all over the city.

"Torn." I greeted as I entered the room.

"Jak." He acknowledged, "How are you feeling?"

"Yeah, good now." I replied, and it was true; whatever that antidote had done it had completely reversed the effects of what the Metal Heads had done.

"Good. Despite how much I would prefer not to send you out right now, we are just too short handed to get things done around here. So you will be delivering a package to an informant on the other side of the city, it should be easy enough, just don't get caught by the KG in the process."

Torn had barely glanced up from his maps and I couldn't help but feel a small tug within my chest, but I quickly squashed the feeling down.

"Sure, better than hanging around here." I said, my voice a bit sharper than I intended.

Torn looked up then, a slightly curious look on his face.

"Ok then, the package is out on the speeder ready to go and here are the directions." Torn said, handing over a small piece of paper. I took the paper with a nod before heading out to the speeder, for some reason I just couldn't act normal around Torn today.

"You seem out of it today." Daxter commented, having followed me out.

"How so?" I asked, getting on the speeder and letting Dax jump onto my shoulder.

"Dunno." He replied with a small shrug, "Now, lets get this baby cranking!"

With a grin I turned the keys in the speeder and sent the engine roaring and after a quick grin to Dax, I raced away from the base and out onto the crowded streets of Haven City.

It was easy to dodge the cars around me as I ducked and weaved throughout the city, driving much faster than what was 'allowed', and still managing to avoid all the KG in the area. It felt good to just be out and about.

All too soon we arrived at the address Torn had given us, it wasn't much more than a run down looking dump, but then again, that was normal for this city. Getting off the speeder I grabbed the package before going and knocking on the door.

The man who answered was one that I had seen around the base on occasion but never really bothered to talk to. As soon as he saw it was me he looked around the empty area before quickly taking the package and promptly closing the door.

"Sheesh! Talk about rude." Daxter complained as we headed back to the speeder. I just nodded and shrugged in answer, knowing that it wouldn't be smart to keep Daxter talking on the subject, less he never stop.

"Lets see just how fast this thing goes." I said with a wicked grin as we left he dead end area of the city.

Racing through the city in a way that Torn would probably kill us for if he found out, we soon made it back to base having only run over one Krimson Guard... Ok maybe two or three.

Daxter and I both chuckled to one another as we walked inside, earning curious glances from the few resistance members we passed.

"Man, those bums ain't got nothin' on you Jak!" Daxter chuckled., "I mean did you see that one that that face planted into the ditch?"

"Yeah, I doubt he would have gotten up very quickly." I agreed.

"And who would that be?" A stern voice said in front of us and be both froze. Torn stood outside the door to his map room, leaning against the wall watching us with a stern look on his face.

"Uh... no one..." Dax said, sounding like a small child caught with his hand in the sweets jar. Oh how old Samos would laugh.

Torn raised one of his eye brows at that clearly disbelieving. I couldn't help but let my eyes wander down his lean frame as he stood like that, and I could only hope he didn't notice.

"No one?" Torn's voice brought my eyes back up to his face, he was looking at Daxter with an almost sadistic gleam to his eyes making my small orange friend gulp on my shoulder.

"Dax is right, it was no one important. Your package got delivered whole and without damage." I said, deciding to save Dax before he became nothing more than a small orange carpet at the entrance to the hideout.

"Yeah, so cool the thrusters Tattooed Wonder." Dax said leaning against my head smugly. Well I tried to save him...

"One day Rodent, you won't have Jak to hide behind." Torn threatened before pushing himself off the wall and heading into the map room once more.

**Torn's POV:  
><strong>With a sigh I leaned down to look over the more recent reports on Praxis' movements. The self-appointed ruler of Haven City had been busy apparently as he has constantly been on the move throughout different areas in the city.

I will have to keep a very close eye on his movements as well as Jak's and try to keep Jak from continuing on his quest for revenge until we knew more about what was happening. I was still concerned about what had happened not to long ago, even if I made sure not to show it to Jak.

Jak.

How is that the young warrior was able to begin affecting me like he did from the moment he first showed up at the base, eyes alight with a hidden rage and willing to do anything to further his quest, only making these feelings worse the longer he stayed.

There was no way to deny that I wanted nothing more than to just lock the warrior away from all the dangers of the Metal Heads and Praxis, to keep him from all harm, but to do so would destroy the man and I would also be locking away much of what I admire in him; his strength, determination, and fierce personality were beautiful to me. Something I would never tell anyone.

I heard Jak and the Rodent walk through, towards their room no doubt. Glancing over I caught a sight of Jak's back as he walked, and letting my eyes wander for a moment I took in the strength in his lean build as the muscles rippled under skin and cloth alike.

With another sigh I looked back down at the reports spread out around me. I would really have to either stop these thoughts from intruding or do something about them before they drove me mad.

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><p><strong>I apologise for the short chapter and the long wait for it to come out as well. Life has been busy and I also got caught up with a new story idea under a different category and ended up leaving this one sitting for far to long. <strong>

**I am continuing this story, and I have no intention of just stopping out of the blue, even if I cannot promise fast updates.**


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